AYT #53: Digital Frustrations, Oscar Predictions

February 21, 2013 By 1 Comment

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This week, Joe and Erik discuss who should win, who will win and who was snubbed by the Oscars this year. But before they get to that, it’s time to finally dive in to the digital vs. film discussion. With PIFF 36 seeing a lot of change this year in that area, the hosts discuss their own experiences and how digital cinema can be improved, with just a few simples changes.

New episodes of Adjust Your Tracking are released every Thursday, so make sure to come back and check out what Joe and Erik are discussing every week. We’d love to hear your feedback in the comments section, or feel free to email adjustyourtracking@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/adjustyourtrack. We’re on iTunes now, so make sure to subscribe to the show by clicking the link below. Also, leaving reviews and rating the show on iTunes is really helpful in getting more attention and attracting more listeners, so please do so if you like what we do. You can also stream the episode on the embedded player below.

WARNING: Explicit language is used in this podcast.

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Monsieur Lazhar

February 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Last month, Toronto film critics named Philippe Falardeau’s Monsieur Lazhar as their best Canadian film of 2011. The Quebec film, which is Canada’s contender for the best foreign language film at this year’s Academy Awards, beat out another French-language film, Jean Marc Vallee’s Cafe de flore, and David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, for top honors at the Toronto Film Critics Association kudosfest in Toronto. Monsieur Lazhar, which is from the producers of Incendies (last year’s audience favorite at PIFF34) has also earned the best Canadian feature film prize at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Monsieur Lazhar is Falardeau’s fourth feature length film, and not to be missed. Set in Montreal, it begins with the suicide of a female elementary school teacher. Bachir Lazhar, an Algerian immigrant, is quickly hired to replace her while he is experiencing a personal tragedy of his own. His wife, who was a writer, died in a criminal arson attack with her daughter and son, a fire caused by targets (along with their associates) of the last book she wrote dealing with the social and economic shortcomings in present-day Algeria, from which comes the phrase eloquently said by Bachir: “Nothing is ever really normal in Algeria.” He gets to know his students despite the cultural gap that is evident from the very first lesson. As the class tries to move on from their former teacher’s suicide, nobody at the school is aware of Bachir’s painful past, who could be deported at any time given his status as a refugee.

PIFF35 brings Monsieur Lazhar on Saturday Feb 11 at 3 PM (Lake Twin Cinema), Monday Feb 13 at 6:15 PM (Lloyd Mall 6), and Wednesday Feb 15 at 8:45 PM (Pioneer Place 5).

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Adjust Your Tracking #3: Oscar Who?

February 2, 2012 By 2 Comments

Adjust Your Tracking is the new podcast produced through the facilities of the Northwest Film Center Newsroom. The show is hosted by Joe von Appen and Erik McClanahan, and is produced by Jessica Lyness and Laurel Degutis. Opinions expressed are that of the hosts, and not necessarily of the Northwest Film Center. In episode 3, Joe and Erik  find time to discuss the Oscar nominations but quickly realize they just don’t care all that much. We also revisit Love It/Hate It to re-evaluate our chosen films from last week. Will our opinions change? But the main focus of this week’s show is our opposing reviews on two new films in theaters right now, “Haywire” and “The Grey.”

A reminder to all readers and listeners that PIFF 35 is less than a week away. The festival goes from February 9 – 25, with more than 80 shorts and features from around the globe screened. We’ll have more on the festival next week and pretty much the rest of the month. We hope you look forward to our coverage.

New episodes of AYT are released every Thursday, so make sure to come back and check out what Joe and Erik are discussing. We’d love to hear your feedback in the comments section, or feel free to email adjustyourtracking@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/adjustyourtrack. You can download the podcast by right-clicking the link below and selecting ‘Save Link As…’ Once saved, the show can be played in iTunes or any other mp3 player. Or stream it on the embedded player.

AYT #3

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Oscar nominated short films screening at PIFF 35

January 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Academy Award nominees were announced today and we’re excited to say that 7 out of the 10 short film nominations will be screened at this year’s 35th Portland International Film Festival! The Oscar Nominees include three Live Action Films (PENTECOST, RAJU, and TIME FREAK) and four Animated Films (SUNDAY, THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE, LA LUNA, and WILD LIFE). Take a look at the trailers below.

In addition to the healthy serving of Oscar Shorts, three films in the Foreign Language Film category (BULLHEAD, MONSIEUR LAZHAR, and FOOTNOTE), and one in the Animated Feature Film category (A CAT IN PARIS) will be shown at PIFF 35. This past year’s Reel Music Festival, also hosted by the Film Center, featured CHICO AND RITA, another Animated Feature nominee at the 2012 Oscars.

Best Short Film, Live Action

PENTECOST – DIRECTOR: Peter McDonald – Ireland

When Damian is forced to serve as an altar boy at an important mass, he faces a difficult choice: conform to the status quo or serve an extended ban from his passion in life…football. (11 mins.)

RAJU – DIRECTOR: Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren – Germany

When a German couple arrive in an Indian city to adopt a boy, his brief escape triggers a glimpse inside a system of procurement that may not be as altruistic as it first seems. (24 mins.)

TIME FREAK – DIRECTOR: Andrew Bowler – United States

Chronology goes comically awry for a wacky inventor trying to change his life through his time machine. (10 mins.)

Best Short Film, Animated 

SUNDAY – DIRECTOR: Patrick Doyen – Canada

On a gray afternoon, a young boy creates his own form of entertainment when the family makes its weekly trek to visit the grandparents. (9 mins.)

THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE – DIRECTOR: William Joyce  – United States

This lyrical love letter to books celebrates the transformative powers of storytelling. (17 mins.)

LA LUNA – DIRECTOR: Enrico Casarosa – United States

This Pixar-produced film tells the story of a boy who finds himself conflicted between the ways of his elders as he takes to the sea with his Papa and Grandpa. (7 mins.)

 

WILD LIFE – DIRECTOR: Amanda Forbis, Wendy Tilby – Canada

A dapper Englishman tries his hand at becoming a “rancher” in Alberta, but his romanticized visions of Canadian prairie life soon take a turn for the worse. (14 mins.)

NO TRAILER AVAILABLE for WILD LIFE.

The complete PIFF schedule can be found online here and here on Jan. 31. Advance tickets online Jan. 31 at http://festivals.nwfilm.org/piff35/.

The complete list of Oscar Nominees at http://oscar.go.com/nominees/.

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